Laura Snapes Taylor Swift’s 12th album, The Life of a Showgirl (TLOAS), has been a smash statistical success. She’s broken records that she previously set, and in the US has now beaten Adele for the most sales in a single week. The cinematic release party this weekend grossed $34m in the US and an additional $13m worldwide. But it’s second only to her 20-year-old debut – written in her teens – as the worst reviewed album of her catalogue, with a 70% approval average on Metacritic. What are the successes and failures of this record?
Alexis Petridis The success part is obvious. It’s set to become the biggest-selling album of the year by a preposterously long chalk. In terms of shortcomings, I think the biggest one is prosaic – a lack of really memorable melodies. I think you’d be hearing a lot less about the cringy lyrics if it was packed with tunes that were up to the standard of Blank Space, Don’t Blame Me or Bad Blood.
